ARTICLE
Highway 1 in Santa Cruz County has faced the daunting task to improve travel on a narrow corridor from the Highway 17/Highway 1 loop to Freedom Boulevard. Over the past forty years, we’ve seen the highway snarled in hour-plus commutes heading north in the morning and south in the afternoon. During the summer tourist season, visitors to our coast share in that commute to nowhere. In 2004, County voters tried to pass a ballot measure — Measure J posed the question — Shall a half-cent sales tax be adopted to improve transportation in Santa Cruz County? Improvements will include: widening Highway 1 with carpool/bus/emergency lanes; improving local streets, sidewalks and bike paths; safety on Highway 17; elderly/disabled transportation; building a Coastal bike/walking path next to the rail line; and a Pajaro train station. This 30-year measure will be monitored by an independent oversight committee. Measure J failed to achieve the 2/3 voter approval losing by more than 15,000 votes. You can read the full measure here: https://www.santacruzpl.org/files/ballot_measures/pdf/20041102_J.pdf. The irony of that 2004 ballot measure included Highway 1 widening, a carpool lane, and auxiliary lanes. It also included many of the transportation improvements that were so desperately needed but a majority of the funds were directed to Highway 1. The proponents had a strong and vocal opposition which included the Sierra Club local chapter and the Campaign for Sensible Transportation (they later changed their name to Sustainable Transportation). In November 2016, Measure D passed with 2/3 of County voters supporting a ½-cent sales tax for 30 years with the prayer, promise, and hope that our Highway 1 traffic would improve. The County Board of Supervisors (the sponsor of Measure D) – with direction from the community – divided up the funds into “five funding buckets” to improve city streets, county roads, safe access to schools with improved pedestrian and bike lanes, funds for public transportation — saving METRO and offering a new funding stream for Lift and Community Bridges who provide a critical transportation service to seniors and those with limited transit options to get to doctors’ appointments, pharmacies and other medical services. Measure D was not perfect. Everyone who worked to get the voters' support knew that Measure D funds would not solve all of our transportation problems. Like the 2004 Measure J, the 2016 Measure D included a bike and pedestrian path next to the rail corridor. One critical difference between the two ballot measures was that the construction of an HOV Lane was not included in Measure D, even though many in the county wanted that option. Measure D was a compromised funding option designed to help move people and goods that are delivering on those promises — albeit not as fast and efficiently as we’d like;however, progress is happening. It is common knowledge that Measure D is our local funding source that can be matched with state and federal dollars to get projects funded. In Wednesday’s July 20, 2022 Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Editorial Board opined about the Campaign for Sustainable Transportation and the local chapter of the Sierra Club, which filed legal action to stop Highway One auxiliary lane improvements. You can read the Editorial here: Sentinel Editorial 7-20-2022. Using the courts and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as the wedge, the court ruling is a split decision for county commuters. While the ruling did not uphold a challenge to the expansion of auxiliary lanes, it will require reconsideration of plans for HOV lanes along the highway. CalTrans was ordered to recirculate a more “focused draft EIR” for public review and comment addressing several specific issues involved with the project. The Regional Transportation Commission will likely take up this matter at their next meeting. Of course, the opponents want the RTC to reconsider the auxiliary lane option and spend money on other alternative transportation options. But that is not what the voters want in supporting the 2016 Measure D and opposing the 2022 Measure D. I find it more than ironic that the opponents of the 2004 Measure J, and the 2016 Measure D are also the same folks who want to stop the development of the Santa Cruz Downtown Library and Affordable Housing Project and now have placed a measure on the November 2022 ballot. The question for city voters is to fully understand the rationale that these opponents use in a misguided attempt to slow progress in Santa Cruz County — whether it is a county-wide transportation solution for residents and visitors or a new Downtown Library and Affordable Housing facility, the reasons they use to frame their narratives are misleading. Don’t be fooled.
Highway 1 in Santa Cruz County has faced the daunting task to improve travel on a narrow corridor from the Highway 17/Highway 1 loop to Freedom Boulevard. Over the past forty years, we’ve seen the highway snarled in hour-plus commutes heading north in the morning and south in the afternoon. During the summer tourist season, visitors to our coast share in that commute to nowhere.
In 2004, County voters tried to pass a ballot measure — Measure J posed the question — Shall a half-cent sales tax be adopted to improve transportation in Santa Cruz County? Improvements will include: widening Highway 1 with carpool/bus/emergency lanes; improving local streets, sidewalks and bike paths; safety on Highway 17; elderly/disabled transportation; building a Coastal bike/walking path next to the rail line; and a Pajaro train station. This 30-year measure will be monitored by an independent oversight committee. Measure J failed to achieve the 2/3 voter approval losing by more than 15,000 votes. You can read the full measure here: https://www.santacruzpl.org/files/ballot_measures/pdf/20041102_J.pdf.
The irony of that 2004 ballot measure included Highway 1 widening, a carpool lane, and auxiliary lanes. It also included many of the transportation improvements that were so desperately needed but a majority of the funds were directed to Highway 1. The proponents had a strong and vocal opposition which included the Sierra Club local chapter and the Campaign for Sensible Transportation (they later changed their name to Sustainable Transportation).
In November 2016, Measure D passed with 2/3 of County voters supporting a ½-cent sales tax for 30 years with the prayer, promise, and hope that our Highway 1 traffic would improve. The County Board of Supervisors (the sponsor of Measure D) – with direction from the community – divided up the funds into “five funding buckets” to improve city streets, county roads, safe access to schools with improved pedestrian and bike lanes, funds for public transportation — saving METRO and offering a new funding stream for Lift and Community Bridges who provide a critical transportation service to seniors and those with limited transit options to get to doctors’ appointments, pharmacies and other medical services. Measure D was not perfect. Everyone who worked to get the voters' support knew that Measure D funds would not solve all of our transportation problems. Like the 2004 Measure J, the 2016 Measure D included a bike and pedestrian path next to the rail corridor. One critical difference between the two ballot measures was that the construction of an HOV Lane was not included in Measure D, even though many in the county wanted that option.
Measure D was a compromised funding option designed to help move people and goods that are delivering on those promises — albeit not as fast and efficiently as we’d like;however, progress is happening. It is common knowledge that Measure D is our local funding source that can be matched with state and federal dollars to get projects funded.
In Wednesday’s July 20, 2022 Santa Cruz Sentinel, the Editorial Board opined about the Campaign for Sustainable Transportation and the local chapter of the Sierra Club, which filed legal action to stop Highway One auxiliary lane improvements. You can read the Editorial here: Sentinel Editorial 7-20-2022.
Using the courts and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as the wedge, the court ruling is a split decision for county commuters. While the ruling did not uphold a challenge to the expansion of auxiliary lanes, it will require reconsideration of plans for HOV lanes along the highway. CalTrans was ordered to recirculate a more “focused draft EIR” for public review and comment addressing several specific issues involved with the project. The Regional Transportation Commission will likely take up this matter at their next meeting. Of course, the opponents want the RTC to reconsider the auxiliary lane option and spend money on other alternative transportation options. But that is not what the voters want in supporting the 2016 Measure D and opposing the 2022 Measure D.
I find it more than ironic that the opponents of the 2004 Measure J, and the 2016 Measure D are also the same folks who want to stop the development of the Santa Cruz Downtown Library and Affordable Housing Project and now have placed a measure on the November 2022 ballot. The question for city voters is to fully understand the rationale that these opponents use in a misguided attempt to slow progress in Santa Cruz County — whether it is a county-wide transportation solution for residents and visitors or a new Downtown Library and Affordable Housing facility, the reasons they use to frame their narratives are misleading. Don’t be fooled.